Mobile accounts for more than half of Facebook’s ad revenue

Facebook turns 10 today, and while nobody was using Facebook on their Nokia 3310s back in 2004, last year mobile accounted for more than half of the social network’s ad revenue, according to Statista.

In May 2012, the Mark Zuckerberg-owned platform – which now boasts 1.23 billion active users – warned potential investors that the shift to mobile usage could negatively affect the company’s advertising business; however, since then, mobile advertising revenue has grown significantly to become the company’s primary growth driver.

In the final quarter of 2013, mobile generated $1.2 billion in revenue – 53% of Facebook’s ad revenue and 48% of total revenue.

Despite the solid growth, there has been speculation recently that Facebook is not as popular as it once was – particularly among the teen demographic. However, despite evidence that younger users are jumping ship to other social platforms, Facebook has seen an 80% surge in users over 55.

This is a positive change when it comes to ad revenues, says Ovum analyst, Eden Zoller, as older users have more spending power than teens.

However, Zoller said that Facebook must not become complacent, and that it “needs to keep innovating with things like mobile video apps, with mobile commerce.”

In December, Facebook began testing video ads in its newsfeed – either on a mobile device or desktop – in a bid to improve the quality of ads seen.

Though the pricing remains unconfirmed, Ad Age reported last year that Facebook was offering the ad slots to marketers for $1 million per day and was looking to net $4 million in new ad revenue if it fully sold out.